Matt Hancock happy to be 'clean and well fed' as he returns to Parliament after I'm a Celeb

02.12.2022 - 19:39 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Matt Hancock was full of jokes as he made his return to Parliament for the first time since leaving the I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here jungle.

The former Health Secretary was back in the House of Commons chamber on Friday to debate his Dyslexia Screening and Teacher Training Bill.

Hancock smiled as he was pictured arriving back at his Westminster day job earlier in the day, before making some light-hearted comments as he took the floor.

After the Deputy Speaker had a jibe about the disgraced MP being third in the schedule that day, saying Hancock was "making a habit of coming third these days" after Hancock was voted in third place by ITV viewers on Sunday.

Hancock replied: "I'm not quite sure what to make of that but I'm honoured to be third today and let's see how that goes.

"But it's also a pleasure to be here and to be clean and well fed."

It was the 44-year-old's first day back at work, two days after arriving back in the UK following his stint in the Australian jungle.

The Tory had been suspended from the Conservative parliamentary party as he signed up for I'm A Celeb while the House was sitting. Speculation now mounts whether the West Suffolk MP will have the Tory whip restored and will stand again at the next general election.

Conservative MPs have until December 5 to declare their intention to stand in the next election, which is expected to take place in 2024.

Earlier in the day, he posted a video to Instagram, saying: “I’m back in the office in Westminster today after my day in the constituency yesterday.

"I’ve got my Bill in front of Parliament today to have better screening for dyslexia.”

A serialisation of Hancock’s new book, Pandemic Diaries, is to be published by the Daily Mail later on Friday.

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